


Give Me Love

by oftheashtree



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Adopted Children, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Asperger Syndrome, Depression, Divorce, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Past Child Abuse, Schizophrenia, Single Parent Castiel, Slow Build, Social Worker Dean, children with issues, sort of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-28
Updated: 2015-02-28
Packaged: 2018-03-15 14:34:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3450677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oftheashtree/pseuds/oftheashtree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel Novak is the single father of four adopted children - each with issues that make them trouble individually; together, they're practically a nightmare. Castiel is managing, though. Lucifer has only tried to set the house on fire three times this year (as opposed to fourteen times the previous year), Anna has only had one psychotic break, Gabriel is actually getting relatively good marks in school, and Chuck actually goes to school without having a meltdown (most days). Yeah, Castiel is managing just fine. </p>
<p>The only problem is that the school still isn't satisfied; they're concerned that Castiel isn't enough for the children, and they've called Child Services. In response, Child Services has assigned a regular case worker to the Novak family - one Dean Winchester, a man with problems - and a family - of his own. </p>
<p>Castiel and Dean meet and sparks fly, but Dean's got a job to do, and he can't compromise his objectivity because the school and Child Services might be right - Castiel might not be enough for his troubled children.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Give Me Love

**Author's Note:**

> TW: mentions of babies born addicted to cocaine, past child abuse, schizophrenia, Asperger Syndrome, other mental health issues, adoption, spanking (mild) as a punishment for young children, divorce, death of a spouse, and depression.

The morning begins as it always does – nudge the kids out of bed, shuffle them into the kitchen, and start doling out meds. It breaks his heart to see the littler ones downing four or five pills every morning, but he’s seen what happens when they don’t take them, and no one likes it – the kids included.

Lucifer demands a plate of banana pancakes, as usual. Anna clutches a teddy and doesn’t answer Castiel’s questions regarding what _she_ would like to eat. Also typical. Gabriel shoves his way through the kitchen, waving off an offer of a piece of toast or even an apple, and snags his backpack from the bench of the breakfast nook.

With barely a nod to Castiel and a quick ruffle of his bio-brother’s hair, Gabe is off to make the three mile trek to the high school. Lucifer scowls and straightens his hair, and Castiel wishes briefly that Gabe would take him up on his offer of a quick ride to school in the car. It’ll never happen. 

Chuck is buried in his blankie and a book that is at least seven grade-levels above where all the other first graders are reading. Like Anna, he doesn’t answer when Castiel asks him what he wants to eat.

Banana pancakes it is.

* * *

The morning begins as it always does. Lisa is already awake and has been for at least two hours, and Ben won’t be up and at ‘em for at least another forty five minutes. He showers and pulls on one of his nicest suits – a monkey suit, he likes to say. He usually doesn’t bother with anything more than jeans and a nice shirt, but today he’s meeting a family for the first time, and he likes making a good first impression. He doesn’t quite remember the family’s last name – Naval or something – but he does remember the circumstances under which he was called in. He runs over the details of the file in his mind as he styles his hair and spritzes some nice cologne.

Single father. Mother died three or four years ago in a car accident. Four kids, all adopted, all have serious mental or emotional issues. Only one was born addicted to cocaine – the second youngest, he believes. He also believes that the crack baby is the one that sets fires. One child is schizophrenic, one has fairly severe Asperger’s, and the last was severely abused for the majority of his life and is the brother of the crack baby.

Child Services had gotten calls from each child’s school expressing concern for the home life. After the first three social workers ran screaming, they called in Dean – their secret weapon. Coming from a household of alcoholism and abuse himself, Dean wasn’t intimidated by even the most broken homes. If the social worker that pulled Dean and his little brother from their abusive father could deal with all of Dean’s problems, he was confident that he could deal with anything that any other kid could throw at him. Bobby was still his role-model, even four years after his death.

He finishes the suit off with a dark green tie that he’s been told matches his eyes and his favorite pair of dress shoes.

Ben has apparently managed to pull himself out of bed and make his way down to the kitchen where Lisa is cooking bacon and ignoring Dean’s existence. Dean grabs a mug out the cupboard and pours himself a cup, ignoring her in return. He drops a kiss on the top of Ben’s head; Ben, fourteen and resentful, grimaces around a mouthful of eggs and runs a hand through his hair. Dean rolls his eyes slightly, grabs his briefcase, and calls out a “have a good day, I love you” to his small family.

No one replies.

* * *

 

It’s not a “good” day.

Anna spends half an hour babbling about the angels she hears instead of dressing for school, Lucifer shuts Chuck’s fingers in a door – nothing broken, thank God – and Chuck has a colossal meltdown brought on by the pain.

Castiel takes a deep breath and gets to work.

In between Anna’s insistences that the end of the world is coming – and God, but he doesn’t have a damn clue where an eleven year old gets this kind of material – he manages to wrestle her into a school uniform. He even succeeds in getting her into her regulation tights and a tie.

He plops Lucifer into the time-out chair and sets the timer for eight minutes. Then, he grabs an ice pack for Chuck’s fingers, murmuring the first chapter of _The Hobbit_ into Chuck’s ear all the while. He’d memorized the first six chapters when Chuck was just a toddler – it was the only thing that soothed him, and he couldn’t carry the physical copy _and_ Chuck at the same time. Luckily, the words of Tolkien settle his screams, and in just three minutes Chuck is settled into the corner of the couch with the ice pack and one of the many physical copies of _The Hobbit_ that Castiel keeps around the house.

Chuck is done, so he moves back to gather up Anna. She’s staring blankly at one of the walls of her bedroom, mouthing something that Castiel can’t make out. He stuffs her books and papers into her backpack and starts to go for her coat, only to realize she’s already wearing it, along with her gloves and one of her many winter hats.

He mumbles a quiet “good girl” and kisses the top of her head, ushering her out of her room and downstairs to sit with Chuck. She obliges without argument, so he hands her a Rubik’s Cube to fiddle with as a reward.

Two down, one to go.

He makes his way upstairs with twenty seconds to spare and finds Lucifer still seated in the time out chair. He looks grumpy, but he’s still there, so Castiel will take it.

Feeling able to breathe for the first time all morning, he sinks to his knees in front of his eight-year-old terror.

“Hey, kiddo,” He greet quietly. Lucifer scowls deeper, but he grumbles “hey” in response.

“Remember what we talked about yesterday?”

Lucifer sighs deeply, “Use your words, not your hands.”

He rubs Lucifer’s leg briefly and smiles encouragingly, “That’s right, good job. Now, you want to tell me why you hurt Chuck like that?”

Lucifer ducks his head against his chest and mumbles incoherently.

“Tell me again,” Castiel asks. “I didn’t hear what you said.”

Another deep sigh. “I wanted to know if it would hurt him.”

Castiel feels a pang of worry for his second youngest child. “Buddy, would it hurt you if you slammed your fingers in a door?”

Lucifer thinks for a moment, then nods his head.

“Right, so if it hurts you, don’t you think it would hurt Chuck, too?”

“Yeah, but I wanted to make _sure_.”

“Why did you want to make sure?”

Lucifer swings his legs a little bit and shrugs. Castiel lifts his head from where it’s fallen to rest on his chest.

“Lucifer, you and Chuck are the same. You have ten fingers and ten toes. You have eyes and ears and a mouth and a nose. If something hurts you, it will hurt Chuck, too. This is strike two this week. What happens if you get another strike?”

Lucifer meets his eyes and says dutifully, “I’ll get a spanking and be sent to my room without dinner.”

Castiel nods, “Good job remembering. I don’t want to spank you, but I will if it will help you remember not to hurt Chuck. Remember on your own, ok?”

Lucifer nods and makes himself smaller and says, “I don’t want a spanking.”

“I know. So that means that you have to remember to do something. What do you have to remember to do?”

“Not hurt Chuck.”

“Or Anna or Gabe.” Castiel reminds.

“Or Anna or Gabe.”

“Good job,” Castiel praises. He kisses Lucifer briefly on the top of his head and tells him to get his coat and gloves.

Much happier than before, Lucifer runs off.

Castiel has never been a fan of spanking as punishment, but it’s the only thing that’s effective for Lucifer. When Gabe and Lucifer had come to them, Gabe had been eight and Lucifer was only a few days old and still hooked on cocaine. With his history of physical abuse, spanking was the opposite of effective for Gabe. The same went for Anna, and Chuck was so shy regarding any type of touch that spanking would have only hindered his progress. Lucifer, on the other hand, responded well to time-out, talking it out, warnings, and follow through, especially since his mother died. Lucifer was a naturally angry child; rage followed by cold disregard was his default setting. They’d had him tested at three, five, and seven with suspicions of sociopathic or psychopathic tendencies. Six different psychologists assured them that the boy wasn’t a sociopath or a psychopath, just unsure of how the world worked and angry because of it. Despite growing up in a loving home, he had serious abandonment issues and very slight mental retardation – courtesy of his mother’s coke habit throughout the pregnancy. 

Lucifer bounds downstairs ahead of him and hugs Chuck briefly in apology. Some kids got angry after a punishment, but Lucifer was the type that thrived on the attention given. He could go from a red-faced monster to the sweetest kid you’d ever met in the time it took to sit him down and talk it over.

“Alright, let’s get going.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is a 10 chapter work. I'll be posting fairly regularly, but no specific schedule, sorry. 
> 
> Please keep in mind that every mental illness is different. Also, please remember that individuals with mental illnesses are all different. No one case is the same. That being said, feel free to tell me if I have blatantly misrepresented a mental illness or caused anyone offense. I understand that this is a sensitive and serious subject that impacts everyone in different ways. The behaviors of Lucifer and Chuck are based on my own personal experiences with members of my family. 
> 
> I am planning to end up with Destiel - it just might take a few chapters. Bear with me. I'm excited to explore this universe, and I might go back and do a bit of editing, so don't be surprised if something changes within a chapter. 
> 
> One final thing: the chapters might seem to add a bit suddenly. I've done that on purpose. Again, bear with me. 
> 
> I lied. One more final thing: I don't own the show, the characters, or any companies/organizations mentioned. Thank you.


End file.
